Synchronizing means for directcurrent motors using two field windings



March 23, 1954 J. NICHOLS ET AL SYNCHRONIZING MEANS FOR DIRECT CURRENT MOTORS USING TWO FIELD WINDINGS Filed April 6, 1949 FPEDEP/C/(d NICHOLS PHI MONO 71 0061/0 IN V EN TORS HIM Patented Mar. 23, 1954 SYNCHRONIZIN G MEANS FOR DIRECT- CURRENT MOTORS USING TWO FIELD WIN DIN GS Frederick J. Nichols, Los Angeles, and Raymond T. Dowd,

Hermosa Beach, Calif., assignors to The Garrett Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif., a

corporation of California Application April 6, 1949, Serial No. 85,766

14 Claims.

Our invention relates to electric synchronizing systems in general, particularly relating to systems for achieving in-step synchronism between the rotations of a plurality of electric motors having series fields, the motors being either of the straight series type or of the compound wound type.

An object of this invention is to provide consubstantially proportional. A proportionality of 1:1 will be generally discussed in this specification', it being recognized that any proportionality is within the scope of the invention. Also, since running time of a plurality of motors being mainof numbers of revolutions is the end attained where synchronism is desired.

' In aircraft control applications it is generally required that the motors be of the bi-directional type. For this purpose motors have been designed with two electromagnetic field windings, one being used for clockwise rotation and the other field for rotation counter-clockwise. It is seen that when one field is being utilized for motor rotation'in one direction, the other field is idle. It is an object of this invention to utilize the idle field for motor speed control.

It is another object to provide switching means for introducing current into the idle field or fields of a plurality of motors for providing subs'tantial synchronism of operation of the motors.

Conventional motor synchronizing control circuits are usually predicated on the master and slave'arrangement; that is, one controlling master motor or control always dictates synchronizing efiect's tothe controlled slave motors. Our invention has for "an object a synchronizing system wherein the'system is the master of a plu= rality of motors and any one motor becoming until such time as the motor again becomes synchronized with the system.

It is another object to provide a motor speed control and/or a, synchronizing system wherein the current increment fed into the idle field or It is another object to provide a system wherein the extent of departure of any one motor from synchronism dictates the extent of the corrective action given to that motor.

It is another object to provide a series field motor speed control which utilizes fiuX differentials within the motor to control its speed in a manner akin to the well-known shunt motor manner of speed control.

A system of the type described may be used in moving a pair of control surfaces of an aircraft. For example, dive brakes, trim tabs, ailerons, and other pairs of control surfaces must be moved uniformly with respect to each other else the aircraft may be subject to yaw, roll, and pitch forces of such character as cause the aircraft to deviate from. the desired path. While our invention appears to have particular utility in connection with the control of airfoil surfaces, it is apparent that man other uses will immediately suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. Hence, it is not our intention to be limited to the system described herein as a preferred'embodiment.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like refer- I once characters designate like parts,

Fig. l is a wiring diagram of a synchronizing system employing two series wound bi-directional motors for moving the ailerons of an aircraft;

Fig. 2 is a simplified schematic showing the essential connections made by the relays of Fig. 1 when one of the motors becomes asynchronous with the other.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a pair of electric motors ID and H having armatures l2 and i3 and series fields M and i5, i6 and i1, respectively. Fields It and I6 accomplish rotation of armatures l2 and IS in one direction and fields l5 and I"! accomplish rotation in the other direction. Conductors i8 and I!) serve to connect armatures l2 and it to the common leads of fields I t and I5, and of fields It and I1, respectively, conductors 20 and 2| connecting the other sides of the armatures to one side of the power source as shown. The motors are integral components of actuators or other components (not shown) for moving aircraft ailerons or other devices (also not shown) between two extreme positions. Connected to the armatures I 2 and i3 by suitable reduction gear means (not shown) are rotation displacement means, comprising the contactor arms 30 and 3! adapted to move variably across the resistor elements 32 and 33 of the potentiometers 34 and 35' respectively. Resistor elements 32 and 33 are connected to each other and to a battery or other current source by means of conductors 36 and 31, conductors 38 and 39 serving to connect contactor arms and 3| in series with the winding 40 of normally open polarized relay 4|. It is now seen that potentiometers 34 and 35, together with the associated current source and circuitry constitute an electrical bridge whose balance or unbalance is sensed by the relay 4|.

Contactor arm of relay 4| moves between fixed contacts 46 and 41 in accordance with impulses dictated by winding 40, arm 45 being connected through conductor 48 to a voltage dropping resistor 49, the other side of which is connected by a conductor 50 to the negative side of the power source.

A switch 60, which is placed convenient to the hand of the pilot, is provided for on-off and directional control of the motors I8 and H. Fixed contacts GI and 62 of the switch are connected to windings 63 and 64 of relays 65 and 66, the other side of the windings being joined by a common conductor 61 to the negative side of the power source. The movable contact 68 of the switch is connected by conductor 69 to the positive side of the power source. The relay 65 has movable contacts 15 and 16 connected to series fields l5 and II by means of conductors 11 and 18, respectively. The relay 66 has movable contacts and 8| connected to series fields l4 and I6 by means of conductors 82 and 83 respectively.

Fixed contact 84 of relay 65 and fixed contact 85 of relay 66 are connected to fixed contact 41 of relay 4| by means of common conductor 81. In like manner, fixed contact 88 of relay 65 and fixed contact 89 of relay 66 are connected to fixed contact 46 of relay 4| by means of common conductor 9|. The remaining fixed contacts 92 and 93 of relay t5 and contacts 94 and 95 of relay 66 are joined by a common conductor 96 to conductor 69 which leads to the positive side of the power source.

Assuming, for purposes of description, that the switch 60 is thrown to close cont cts 68 and 62. as shown b the dotted line, relay 66 is energized to close contacts 80 and 94' and contacts 8| and 95, and to open contacts 80 and 89 and contacts 8| and 85, as shown by the dashed lines. Current then becomes available through conductors 69 and 99, contacts 94 and 80, and conductor 82 to winding M of motor l9: likewise, through conductors 69 and 96, contacts 95 and 8|, and conductor 83. winding l6 of motor II is energized. With both motors running in synchronism, arms 38 and 3| of potentiometers 34 and 35 move in unison to maintain a balanced electric bridge across the resistors 32 and 33.

Assume now that motor l8 speeds up and thereby upsets the bridge balance. Current will then fiow in conductor 38, winding 48 and conductor 39 in a direction such as to cause relay 4| to close contacts 45 and 41 as shown by the dashed line, thereby establishing a circuit from the negative side of the power source through conductor 50, resistor 49, conductor 48, contacts 45 and 4"! of relay 4|, conductor 81, contacts 84 and 15 of relay 65, conductor I1, windings l5 and I4 of motor l0, conductor 82, contacts 88 and 94 of relay 56, and conductors 96 and 69 to the positive side of the power source. This path of electricity creates two conditions within motor ID: (a) The increased current through the series field H! (which is the running winding of the motor at the moment) causes an increased drop across that field with a subsequent decrease of voltage applied across armature i2; and (b) the direction of current in field I5 is such that the magnetizing force created thereby is aiding and in the same direction as that normally obtaining in field l4. Furthermore, since the current in the idle field l5 also flows through the running field hi it is seen that the magnetomotive force created by the subsidiary or control current in the turns of field I5 is added to that of the same current in the turns of field |4; hence the control current has substantially double its magnetomotive effectiveness in one field alone.

Accordingly, the motor In slows down as a result of either or both of conditions (a) and (b) above. In the case of a motor of the saturatedfield type it would seem that the slowing down of such a motor is probably due principally to the resultant lowered voltage applied across the armature, the increase of the fiux due to the control current flowing in only a minor amount if the fiux density is well upon or past the knee of the B-H curve of the particular core materials when the motor is running under rated load. In the case of a motor which normally runs with an unsaturated field, it would appear that the added flux density due to the increased ampere-turns provided by the control current is a major factor in the resultant slowing down of that motor.

A feature of the system which is now apparent is that the amount of load on either of the motors It or H is of no consequence, it being possible to obtain synchronism between unequally loaded motors, one of which may be running under full load and the other under no load. Another feature is that failure of either motor does not affect the operation of the other. Likewise, even though one motor may be inherently faster than the other its operation is synchronized with the other. Also, it is not particularly necessary that the two motors be of the same size or approximately so, since the value of resistor 49 may be suitably compromised to provide control current to either of the idle series fields of motors of different powers. Also, anyone skilled in the art could devise a circuit having two or more dropping resistors of different values for the control of two or more motors of different power ratings if such procedure were deemed more feasible. Resistor 49 is not critical, as will be noted hereinafter.

It will be further noted that motor H] in the above-mentioned assumptions does not merely slow down to the speed of motor II and then assume that speed. Motor 10 would seem to actually slow to a speed less than that of motor until the departure from synchronism and resultant unbalance of the electrical bridge was corrected. At the instant the correction is made the bridge becomes balanced and current will cease to flow in winding 40 of relay 4|, with a subsequent opening of contacts 45 and 41, resulting in opening the control circuit to the idle field IS. The motor then comes back to normal speed. This action will be more apparent when it is remembered that the invention functions to maintain the total number of revolutions made by each motor proportional in a given period of time.

Resistor 49 has utility in decreasing the current fed into field H5 in case the voltage of nega tive polarity applied to conductor 50 is the same as that applied to conductors 20 and 2|. We have found if the current in field l5 is approxi mately 5% to 20% of that normally flowing in,

the two fields being field l4 "and armature I: that satisfactory synchronizing control is achieved in certain applications of such motors to aircraftpurposes. However, this range is not critical as to all applicationsand it is conceivable thataparticular application mightcall for a control current inthe idle fieldwhich is equalto, or more'than, that which normally'would flow in the running field and armature under specified or general load conditions.

l The foregoing description has been concerned with an assumed case of motors H! operating in one'direction. Referring now to Fig. 1 it is seen that switch '60 maybe thrown'to select operation in the opposite direction, in which case series fields l5 and I! will become the running windings and fields I4 and I6 will become idle fields which may be used for c'ontrolpurposes as aforesaid. Likewise, an assumption was made-that polarized relay M was activated .by thespeeding up of motor It] in suchmanner asto cause control current to be fed into the idle "field of that motor. It is readily seen that the coaction ofzrelays 4|, 65 and fifiinaccordancewith :the

position of switch 60 and the direction of current flowing in winding 40 of relay 4| provides a flexible system wherein either motor which speeds up or departs from synchronism is slowed down or brought back to synchronism, regardless of the direction of rotation at the moment of departure. Likewise, if one of a pair of motors slows down due to an added load, for example, the other motor will likewise slow down to synchronous speed.

There may be applications in which it is desired to speed up the slower one of a plurality of motors to be synchronized. By interchanging the leads 38 and 39 of Fig. l with respect to winding 40 of relay 4i, and also: by applying a positive polarity to conductor .50 instead of the negative polarity shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the resulting circuit will provide a, control in which the slower of the motors is controlled in such manner as to speed it up.

In such a case, referring to motor ID of Fig. 2, the magnetic polarity arrows of the control current are reversed in effect and the magnetomotive force of the control current will buck instead of aid the magnetomotive force of the running current, the resultant field strength being thereby diminished. Since the control current will now flow through the armature instead of the running field, there will be an effective increase of voltage applied across the armature. Either of these resulting conditions or the combination of both will cause the motor I0 to speed up.

a speed-control field normally disconnected from said control current source, said-speed control means comprising switch means rendered operative by deviation of said motor from desired speed to connect said control field to said control current source.

2."The combination of an electric motor" with speed control means and a control current source,- said motor having an armature and a running field for operation thereof and further having a speed control field normally disconnected from said control current source, said speed control means comprising switch means rendered operative by deviation of said motor from desired speed'to connect said control field to said control current sourceyand further rendered operative by return of said motor to desired speed to disconnect saidcontrol field from said source.

3. The combination of an electric motor with speed control means and a control current source, said motor having an armature and a running field for operation thereof, and further having a speed control field normally disconnected from said control current source, said speed control means comprising switch means rendered operative by deviation of said motor from desired speed to connect said control field to said control current source whereby the magnetic flux set up in said control field by said control current tends to change the flux of the running field.

4. The combination of an electric motor with speed control means and a control current source, said motor having an armature and a running I field for operation thereof, and further having While we have described our invention with respect to the synchronizing of two bi-directional series motors, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be applied to the synchronizing of more than two motors. Also it will be apparent that the speed or rotational displacement of a single motor may be manually or automatically controlled by an application of the principles of our invention to that motor. Likewise it is apparent that motors of other than the bidirectional series type may be suitably controlled, hence we do not limit our invention to the specific embodiment shown and described.

We claim:

1. The combination of an electric motor with speed control means and a control current source, said motor having an armature and a running field for operation thereof, and further having a speed control field normally disconnected from said control current source, said speed control means comprising switch means rendered operative by deviation of said motor from desired speed to connect said control field to said control current source whereby the current in said control field tends to change the voltage applied across said armature.

5. A speed control for an electric motor, said motor having a pair of fields, either of which may be energized from a power source as a running field and the other then being simultaneously an idle field, comprising: a control current source normally disconnected from said idle field; switch means for connecting said control current source to either of said fields; and means to actuate said switch means at any operational point of said motor to supply said control current to whichever field is idle when the other field is energized as the running field.

6. The invention of claim 5 further characterized in that said motor is of the bi-directional type wherein energization of one of said fields by said power source causes rotation of said motor in one direction and energization of the other of said fields by said power source causes rotation of said motor in the other direction.

7. The invention of claim 5 further characterized in that said power source and said control current source are common.

8. The invention of claim 5 further characterized in that said means to actuate said switch means comprises a motor speed responsive means.

9. A synchronizing system for a plurality of electric motors having running fields and armatures, comprising: a control field in each of said motors; a control current source normally disconnected from said control fields; rotation displacement means associated with said motor armatures for detecting asynchronism of the rotations of said armatures; and switch means 7' adapted to be operated by said rotation displacement means upon occurrence of asynchronism to connect said control current source to the control field of any one of said motors which becomes asynchronous with the system.

10. The invention of claim 9, further characterized in that the application of the current supplied to said control field tends to change the flux density in said running field.

11. The invention of claim 9, further characterized in that the application of the current supplied to said control field tends to change the voltage applied across said armature.

12. A synchronizing system for a plurality of electric motors, each of said motors having an armature and a pair of fields, one of the fields of each of said motors being energizable from a power source, the other field of each of said motors thereupon being an idle field, comprising: a control current source normally disconnected from said idle fields; rotation displacement means associated with said motors for detecting asynchronism of the rotations of said armatures; and switch means adapted to be operated by said rotation displacement means upon 0c- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,063,608 Shaw et al. June 3, 1913 1,698,288 Winne Jan. 8, 1929 2,426,488 Davidson Aug. 26, 1947 2,428,403 Yardeny Oct. 7, 1947 2,443,657 King June 22, 1948 2,512,378 Puchlowski June 20, 1950 

